2018 Speakers

Born and raised in Caracas-Venezuela, Michelle Poler is a creative and passionate social entrepreneur, keynote speaker, fear facer, and branding strategist.

She is the Founder of Hello Fears, a social movement empowering millions to step outside of the comfort zone and tap into their full potential. She has spoken at TEDx, Google, INBOUND, Facebook, ESPN, Netflix, Procter and Gamble, Microsoft, Toyota, World Domination Summit, Festival of Media Global, and many more.

Michelle is also the creator of the project 100 Days Without Fear. Her work has been featured on The TODAY Show, Forbes, CBS, CNN, Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, Fox News, Telemundo, Glamour, Elle, The Rachael Ray Show, Refinery29, and Daily Mail among many others.

In 2017 she started speaking to the younger generation. Since then, she has empowered over 40,000 students at schools and universities around the world to live with courage, find their authenticity and embrace their growth paths.

Opening Keynote Speaker — Friday

Fawn Germer

Speaker, Author

Few people have influenced the day-to-day performance of professionals and organizations more than Fawn Germer. The sought-after, bestselling Oprah-featured author, speaker and business consultant is revered for her authenticity and inspiration. She is respected around the world for her groundbreaking work on the leadership and performance dynamics that teach others how to deal with obstacles, then drill down and deliver. Fawn is an expert on change and viability, showing how to turn the stress of a change-driven world into an opportunity to innovate and transform.

She is the bestselling author of eight books — and her newest book, Reset, will be published this spring. Reset shows how to reboot your work-life balance to live a more meaningful, productive life without regrets.

More than anything, Fawn is honest and real – so real that her audiences quickly connect with her as if she were speaking personally to each individual. She is an animated storyteller who uses compelling and entertaining stories to make the takeaway points that no one forgets.

Fawn once had a boss tell her that she’d never be more than she was at the time – a reporter – and she sure showed him. Fawn is a four-time, Pulitzer-nominated investigative journalist and the author of eight books, including the Oprah pick, Hard Won Wisdom.

Fawn personally interviewed more than 300 of the most accomplished leaders of our times, including Olympic athletes, CEOs, prime ministers, presidents, Academy Award winners and many other trailblazers who shared with her the secrets of true success.

From them, she learned that success is born in risk, and power comes from the self-awareness that disables our doubt and self-esteem issues.

Her first book was rejected by every major publisher in the United States, but Fawn persevered until it was a bestseller. She wrote 29 letters to Oprah and something broke through, with Oprah holding up Hard Won Wisdom and telling the world how “Very inspiring” Fawn’s work was.

She travels the globe with her message of viability, performance and power. In recent months, she keynoted for Harvard, Cisco, Pfizer, Deloitte, Kraft, Coca-Cola, Kimberly Clark, Xerox, Bayer, AIG, PepsiCo, the NCAA, Marathon Petroleum, Hallmark, the Network of Executive Women, the UCLA Anderson School of Business, the Wharton School of Business and many others.

Closing Keynote Speaker — Friday

Cindy Monroe

Founder & CEO, Thirty-One Gifts

Cindy Monroe launched Thirty-One Gifts in the basement of her home in Tennessee in 2003 with just two employees at her side. Today, the company is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, where there are over 1,000 employees, and an independent sales Consultant force of about 63,000 throughout the U.S. and in nine provinces in Canada.

The goal when starting Thirty-One was foremost to provide an opportunity for women to find financial freedom through owning their own businesses in direct selling. Cindy also wanted to provide affordable and fashionable products for working women. She held the first party, recruited the first Consultant and helped develop the first products.

She named the company for Proverbs 31, a chapter of the Bible that celebrates women’s strengths. Like the Bible verses, Thirty-One also celebrates the virtuous woman and her many gifts and talents. Scores of independent sales Consultants find balance in their lives by running their own businesses while being home with children, making their own hours, and working as much or as little as they wish.

Thirty-One’s independent Consultants sell products at home parties and online. Thirty-One offers exclusive handbags and wallets, totes, accessories, home décor and organizational solutions, pillows, jewelry and more. Many Thirty-One products can be personalized, which allows Customers to create unique gifts and keepsakes.

The success of Cindy Monroe and Thirty-One has been honored and recognized on a local and national level, including:

Most Influential Women in Direct Selling (2017, 2014)

No. 3 Family-Owned Business in Central Ohio (2017)

Women for Economic and Leadership Development (WELD) Riveter Award 2016

Enterprising Women magazine Hall of Fame 2016

No. 1 Woman-Owned Business in Central Ohio (2016)

23rd Largest Direct-Selling Organization in North America & 38th in the World (2016)

Forbes magazine “Self-Made Women to Watch” (2015)

Enterprising Women Hall of Fame (2015)

Need Knows No Season Award 2014 – Salvation Army

Fastest-Growing Woman-Owned Company in the World (2014)

2014 Enterprising Women of the Year Award

Corporate Caring Award (2014)

Regional Recipient of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2011)

In 2012, Cindy founded a philanthropic initiative called Thirty-One Gives with a mission to empower girls and women and support families. To-date, they have donated more than $100 million in products and cash to nonprofits that share the mission.

Cindy established the Cindy Monroe Vision and Values Scholarship in 2013, available to any high school girl in Hamilton County, TN, providing $12,400 to attend a college or university. The scholarship has been awarded five times.

Cindy serves on the Advisory Board of The Salvation Army in Central Ohio and Enterprising Women magazine, and is a member of the Columbus II Chapter of the Women Presidents’ Organization, and the Young Presidents’ Organization – Columbus Chapter.

She received a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and is married with two children.

The former editor-in-chief of Essence is also the Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship at Howard University, the author of Having What Matters and the real estate developer of The Shops of Lewis Ave. in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn.

2018 Featured Speakers

Mozella P. Ademiluyi

Through her innovative programs, Mozella leads individuals, teams and their companies toward a better understanding of how attaining important goals, like climbing mountains, is best achieved when each person and the group as a whole are fully prepared, engaged and responsible. When a critical mass of empowered individuals has been reached, and when the team believes and can articulate the concepts that fuel their aspirations, then the heights to which they and their company soar are limited only by their definition of success. Mozella’s gifts for helping others navigate creative new paths originated in her childhood. When she was nine, she and her family moved from Miami, Florida, to the African Continent to fulfill her father’s lifelong dream. Cultural exposure and friendships forged across East and West Africa, Europe and Asia filled young Mozella’s heart and mind with unforgettable sights and ideas.

A passionate world traveler to this day, she brings her deeply-wired global perspective and cultural appreciation everywhere she goes and to everyone she meets. An international speaker, author and poet, Mozella earned her undergraduate and law degrees from Howard University. She is a member of the Bars of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and is admitted to practice before the United States Court of International Trade. Mozella serves on several boards in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area and is a graduate of Leadership Greater Washington Class of 2014. She is also Founder of Rising Sun Programs, a non-profit organization that teaches young people and their families how to achieve personal and financial well-being through wealth literacy℠. Mozella is married with three grown sons and lives in Potomac, Maryland.

Ara H. Bagdasarian

Ara H. Bagdasarian is an entrepreneur, author, community leader, and advocate for entrepreneurship education. Ara founded Omnilert, which invented the worlds first campus emergency notification system in 2004. Omnilert connects thousands of organizations with over 10 million people. He is also founded RainedOut which is the most widely used communications platform for organized sports organizations.

In addition to Omnilert, Ara recently co-authored and published the why to book on entrepreneurship. Winner of the 2012 Small Business Book Award, “The Lemonade Stand”, which presents a fresh perspective on how anyone can convert a problem into a successful business while minimizing risk, debt, and obstacles. Ara is a frequent speaker and guest lecturer on entrepreneurship at Georgetown University, Shenandoah University, and George Mason University.

As a lifelong entrepreneur, Ara launched his first business Kidco at age 8. In 1996, Ara founded XNETIX and webRESONANCE in 1999. Both companies were early-market providers of web-based applications that powered Internet startup companies.

Ara has been in the national news media dealing with Omnilert and advances in campus safety. He has appeared on TV, radio, and in newspaper interviews on CNN, ABC, CBS, USA TODAY, NPR, Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, Washington Post, Harvard Review & others.

Ara is an active community leader who served as Chairman of the Town of Leesburg’s Economic Development Commission, President of the Loudoun Symphony Orchestra, Vice-Chair of The United Way Regional Council, VTV Outreach Foundation, Paxton Campus, founding Board member of the Loudoun Center for the Arts, George Mason Enterprise Center, and founding member of the Loudoun Lemonhead Council where entrepreneurs help entrepreneurs succeed through peer advisory sessions.

In 2017, Ara started BENEFIT (BENEFIT.Live), which is a coalition of musicians and community leaders that raise funds and awareness for nonprofit organizations supporting community needs. The pinnacle event is an annual music festival which showcases over 20 community nonprofit organizations.

Mr. Bagdasarian is a graduate from the State University of New York College at Buffalo where he was the recipient of the Young Alumnus Achievement Award.

Carla D. Bass

Carla D. Bass served 30 years in the Air Force and retired as a colonel, one of the few women of her generation to do so. She is now completing her tenth year with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, composing products sent to Congress and the White House. Last year, she authored the multiple award-winning and highly acclaimed book, “Write to Influence!”

Carla now offers a variety of popular workshops based on her book and has presented at the Defense Intelligence Agency, National Intelligence University, privately owned companies, George Washington University and Bradley University, public libraries in three counties in the D.C. area, and local high schools. From powerful writing to banish bureaucratic blather (for the workforce) to resumes, composing input for personnel reviews, and crafting essays for college applications … she covers it all — to rave reviews.

From her earliest days composing and presenting daily briefings to the Director of the National Security Agency and throughout her career, the ability to write powerfully has been central to her professional success. Carla composed products for general officers, ambassadors, and congressional staff; hundreds of performance reviews; and scores of nominations for awards, congressional fellowships, and other competitive packages. In all instances, each word and every second of the reader’s time counted.

While on active duty, Carla transformed her 480-person unit from the most losing in state-wide professional competitions into the one to beat. She developed her writing techniques, composed a handbook, and taught them to write. So successful was her program, she taught thousands of people for the next 15 years.

Her battle cries are twofold: “Powerful writing changes lives” and “Powerful writing is the lifeblood of effective organizations.”
Carla’s assignments included Hawaii; Washington, D.C.; Germany; Korea; Turkey; and Bulgaria, where she served as the Air and Defense Attaché.

Friderike Butler

Friderike Butler, Chief Human Potential Catalyst at Butler Communication, is a successful serial intra- and entrepreneur, who initiated and supported the growth of several businesses in the travel, IT and communication industry from the ground up to full viability before applying her experience to leadership development and professional performance improvement as a trainer, facilitator and coach. She brings extensive management expertise, a genuine appreciation for diversity, curiosity around culture and the power of words, positive psychology, a heart-centered, pragmatic, people-focused approach, and flexibility to each new client engagement.

Through her company Butler Communication, Friderike provides masterfully delivered executive presence and communication training, leadership learning labs, and team-building workshops that are particularly well-suited to support rapidly changing organizations looking for creative, pragmatic solutions and measurable results. In her role as trainer and facilitator, she also designs and facilitates professional development cohort programs focused on leadership development and organizational culture design incorporating up-to-date adult learning and leadership theories, principles, methods and practices, consistently resulting in 100% participant satisfaction ratings.

Friderike excels in working with culturally diverse groups and internationally active organizations with the goal to bridge differences and harness the power of diverse perspectives. Through her professional work in Germany and the United States and a broad range of international assignments, Friderike is deeply sensitized to and intrigued by the challenges and opportunities of working with and across different cultures and ethnicities. Friderike applies her rich experiences to identify, appreciate, and integrate different perspectives with sensitivity and sensibility to improve the effectiveness of an otherwise disjointed team or organization. In addition, Friderike enjoys working as an intercultural trainer supporting globally mobile executives at Micron, Mars, Ford, and Lockheed Martin.

Friderike effectively coaches emerging leaders and executives of all ages, who are stepping into first or expanding leadership roles and who are working in exponential growth and rapid change environments. She integrates neuro-science based models, linguistics, narrative meaning making, adult development theory, and appreciative inquiry in her coaching approach that is grounded in the Georgetown University’s Institute of Transformational Leadership coaching principles.
Friderike has a special talent in working with high-potential professionals, who are motivated to accelerate their professional and personal growth and to expand their leadership capacity. She excels at developing creative leaders at every level of an organization by sharpening the focus of their best selves and shining a light on their true brilliance and strengths. Friderike delivers executive coaching as a subcontractor to NASA, FDA OIP, TEI, local government bodies, and corporate clients.

Jessica Castle

Jessica M. Castle is a business and launch strategist working with creative entrepreneurs to eliminate stress and overwhelm as they grow their online business sales and reach.

In 2010, she began her first career as jack-of-all-trades and after working in hundreds of businesses she fell in love with the art of launching. The challenge of putting together a strategic plan, managing the process, experimenting with new technology, and bringing a project together are all areas where she shines.

So for the past 4 years she has been perfecting her Stress-Free Launch Method, and used it on dozens of 5- and 6-figure client launches that attracted, converted and wow’d their ideal clients.

Jessica is proud to have launched a total of $500k in revenue (and counting!), while also holding to her beliefs of keeping launches simple and successful.

Silvia Christmann

Silvia is a growth coach and business mentor who’s spent the last 12 years helping high-achievers develop themselves, create the lives they want, and build successful businesses. Her mission is to maximize global impact by curating human potential. Silvia works with people who dare to care, challenge dated systems, and transform the status quo. Her clients are visionaries and changemakers, driven to create the change they want to see in this world; building innovative, successful businesses while staying grounded in a meaningful life well-lived.

Achieving any audacious goal starts from a place of self-discovery and requires personal development. Silvia gives her clients dynamic frameworks in which they can consistently learn, grow, and change. These frameworks provide the foundation needed to overcome obstacles and create clarity for effective execution.

Silvia was born in Germany, raised across Europe and has worked in more than seven countries. She has cultivated a high level of cross-cultural competence, allowing her to establish a global client base. In her early career, Silvia specialized in business development and helped build successful companies from pre-revenue to their first million and beyond. Now, she focuses on structuring businesses and transforming leaders during periods of rapid scale. Before starting her boutique practice in 2011, Silvia was part of three startups and played a central role in launching MediaRadar. Under her tenure, the company developed into an ad tech leader with more than $20 million in revenue.

Silvia has been honored to work closely with tech entrepreneurs, hedge fund managers, physicians, lawyers, and professional athletes, as well as C-level executives at companies like Google, Bridgewater, PWC, Deutsch, and Tom’s Shoes, among many others. She has advised over 10 companies to effectively scale, including The Bond Collective (US), Look at Media (RU), and Sapina Ltd (APAC). Silvia is a keynote speaker who teaches seminars at Columbia University, Fortune 100 companies, and numerous global conferences.

Shirley M. Clark

Shirley Clark is the CEO and Executive Director the Women’s Center, where she is responsible for the strategic direction, oversight of programs and development, and day-to-day operations. Shirley has been associated with The Women’s Center since 2006; first as a member of the Leadership Conference Committee and then serving as a Board Member before stepping into the CEO role in 2013.

After serving in strategic leadership roles at what is now Wells Fargo and at Freddie Mac, where she was a founding member of WMIN, a national networking organization in the financial services sector, Shirley stepped out of the corporate environment to establish a self-directed career. In 2003 she established an international consulting organization and in 2004 also co-founded Choose 2 Lead Women’s Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission to help women find their voices to create better communities and sustainable workplace environments. She later went on to found Career Transition Network, a virtual coaching firm helping organizations and individuals move to the next level of their leadership journey.

She is accredited by the International Coach Federation, has mentored at Georgetown University’s Executive Leadership Program of which she is an alumni, as well as for international NGO’s serving women, teens and emerging leaders.

Karen W. Cooper

Karen Wenner Cooper is a wife, mother, real estate broker, business owner and entrepreneur. She exemplifies what it means to be a successful, busy woman in business striving to do it all. As the the founder of Empowering Women in Real Estate, a nationwide real estate group for women with well over 7000 members, Karen is passionate about helping women to see their potential, recognize their dreams, and achieve their goals.

A local real estate top producer since 2002, Karen is a licensed Virginia Real Estate Broker, and is the owner of the Platinum Group Real Estate team at Pearson Smith Realty, a team of 23 women and moms. She and her team specializes in providing a modern approach to real estate, serving clients throughout the Northern Virginia area. She has personally helped more than 700 families during her career and has been regularly recognized as a leader in the industry. Karen has been featured on regional podcasts “Real Estate Top Dogs of the DMV” and “The Team Building Podcast”, and globally on “Pat Hiban Interview’s Real Estate Rockstars”.

As a lifelong Loudoun County resident, family and community are at the forefront of everything she does. Karen has been a volunteer in the classrooms for her 3 sons, is a regular sponsor of many local sports teams and major events and is a life member of Lovettsville Volunteer Fire & Rescue, having spent over 10 years as an EMT/Shock Trauma Technician and serving several years as the company’s Rescue Chief and on County level committees. At age 19 Karen was name the youngest elected official in Loudoun County when she was appointed to the Lovettsville Town Council.

Karen lives in Lovettsville with her husband Joshua, a Battalion Chief with Loudoun County Fire-Rescue, and their three sons, Ben (14), Ryan (12) and Tyler (9).

Mary Cravets

Mary Cravets is a Client Generation Expert and International Speaker who helps entrepreneurs significantly grow their businesses without working nights and weekends. Using her methods, the majority of her clients quickly increase their income 50-100%.

Clients include the former CFO of Microsoft North America, thought-leaders in the coaching industry and rising stars in a variety of other professions, including doctors, lawyers, consultants, graphic designers and CPA’s.

Mary is also an avid roller coaster enthusiast and a kayaking volunteer for a wildlife protection program in Morro Bay, California.

Linda Crill

Linda Crill began her professional career as a Program Manager in an all women’s association–the YWCA. Ten years later, working at Citigroup Headquarters in New York City, she rapidly rose up the ladder to become a Vice President at a time when less than 2% of senior management were women. Then Linda often found that she’d be facilitating a conference for 200 people where only 5 were women and 3 of those women were secretaries. From these opposite experiences she learned that neither imbalance is good.

Like many of the other women who shattered the corporate glass ceiling in the mid-1980s, Linda left the corporate world and formed her own business. As a serial entrepreneur she has spent her career working with thousands of business leaders in the areas of leadership, change, and organizational development.

Aside from being a speaker, facilitator, and executive coach, Linda is also an accomplished writer. In her award-winning book Blind Curves, she traded her corporate suits for motorcycle leathers and signed up for a 2,500-mile road trip riding a Harley.
Linda’s passion is inspiring others to initiate deliberate change. Her captivating stories, novel observations, and actionable ideas leave audiences energized and ready to move forward initiating changes they’ve been wanting to make.

Leslie Curran

Leslie Curran is an attorney at a boutique law firm in Reston Virginia focusing on assisting brand owners with expansion using various growth strategies such as franchising, licensing and distribution. Her clients range from start-up brands that are looking to move beyond one or two units all the way up to internationally recognized brands with over 10,000 units. Leslie works diligently to understand her clients’ needs and expectations and pairs those needs with expansion strategies and legal documents to match up with client expectations.

Jennifer R. Farmer

Jennifer R. Farmer is an author and leading professional in communications strategy. She is also a lecturer at Johns Hopkins University in the School of Communications.

Having spent the early part of her career in state politics, she is a public relations expert with a political tilt. She works at campaign-pace, thinks in terms of campaign cycles and is always mindful of the political environment in which we live. Her debut book, “Extraordinary PR, Ordinary Budget: A Strategy Guide” was published by Berrett-Koehler in June 2017.

Jennifer has made her mark in social justice movements for over 15 years, holding a range of senior leadership positions with national racial justice, labor and faith-based groups. She is the managing director of communications for Faith in Action, formerly PICO National Network, and also the founder and principal of Spotlight PR, LLC. Through Spotlight PR, Jennifer develops and facilitates high-impact trainings for communicators, executives and students.

Among her credits is work with the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, former president of the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, founder of Repairers of the Breach, and architect of the Forward Together Moral Movement. She led communications and outreach work in support of Rev. Barber’s weekly Moral Monday protests and later led the communications outreach for the NC NAACP’s legal challenge to North Carolina’s 2013 restrictive voting measure, H.B. 589, which was overturned in July 2016. She also has experience with talent management, having worked closely with businessman, activist and Atlanta-based Hip-Hop artist, Michael Render, publicly known as Killer Mike.

Jennifer’s understanding of the intersection of politics, advocacy and media has helped the leaders and groups she’s worked with standout in a crowded media landscape. She and her teams have ensured her clients and colleagues were featured in news stories and TV segments in leading print, digital and broadcast media outlets including MSNBC’s AM Joy, CNN, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Politico, HuffPost, HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show and USA Today.

She is a member of the University of Rochester Diversity Advisory Council and also serves on the national advisory board for the National Center for State Courts’ Community Engagement in the Courts initiative. Farmer earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and Political Science from the University of Rochester. She is a proud mother of two and lives in Northern Virginia.

Mina Fies

After an unconventional childhood with a long-haul trucking driving mom, forgoing the traditional path of a college education and starting a construction company in 2008 during an unforgiving economic environment in a male-dominated industry, Mina knows what it’s like to forge her own path.

Recognized as an award-winning Zen Remodeler, professional speaker and CEO of Synergy Design & Construction, Mina uses an innovative approach fusing Feng Shui with neuroscience and social psychology to help others untangle the physical, emotional and spiritual energies that weigh them down. Helping both individuals and corporations discover the power of FLOW and the impact alignment has on their ability to achieve their vision is at the foundation of everything she does.

Mina’s work has been featured on HGTV, NPR, the BBC and other national, local and online media outlets.

Jennifer Files, CPA, CFE, CVA

Jennifer is a Certified Public Account and Certified Fraud Examiner. She assists clients with financial analysis, process efficiency, and if needed, litigation support. In addition, she helps organizations of all sizes create, improve and adapt their internal control systems to help prevent and detect fraud.

Liz Fletcher Brown

As an expert in the field of personal transformation, Liz Fletcher Brown is passionate about supporting women leaders and entrepreneurs traverse the inner landscape from where they currently stand, to the place where their career or business momentum kicks in and takes flight.

Through her consulting, coaching, speaking and writing, Liz brings audiences the specific information they need in order to shine, even in the face of challenges.

She is the author of the award winning book, FULL WATTAGE! A Practical Guide to Living an Engaging and Purposeful Life, and was President of the National Speakers Association, DC.

Liz brings to all of her work a unique combination of engaging stories and practical ideas based on cutting edge neuroscience to support others in living and leading with Full Wattage! – Energized, Enthused and Engaged.

Liz has been a profession coach and Certified Counselor (with a focus on positive psychology) for over 15 years. However, it was her first career as a professional dancer that taught Liz the elements of discipline necessary to be successful in life and in business.

Liz said, “The world of dance taught me the importance of following your dreams; the value of persistence; personal discipline as the key to success; not to take rejection personally; the skill of working in a team; how to deal with prima donnas (literally); and, most importantly, how to know when to take the stage as the star and when to be a supportive follower.”

When she was 21, Liz moved from Scotland to New York City, to a country where she knew no one, to follow her dream of dancing on Broadway. This adventuring spirit continues to motivate her today.

Lisa Gable, former US Ambassador

In June 2018, Lisa Gable was named CEO of FARE (Food Allergy Research and Education). She has served four U.S. presidents and two governors, counseled Fortune 500 CEOs, and represented global public-private partnerships and nonprofits with an end goal of moving organizations to higher levels of performance. Bi-partisan in nature, she has brought together political parties, corporate competitors and disparate nations to foster quality leadership, diplomacy and results that better society and create sustainable partnerships and profitable business models.

Lisa serves as a National Trustee, Boys and Girls Clubs of America; a Member, International Advisory Council, International Republican Institute; an Advisory Board Member, the Diplomatic Courier; an Advisory Board Member, FriendsLearn, Inc.; a Member, Women Corporate Directors.

In August 2004, President George W. Bush appointed Gable as U.S. Commissioner General to the 2005 World Exposition, Aichi, Japan. Through this 100% privately funded effort, she engaged 56 corporations, 19 state partners and numerous cultural leaders in US programming. She held personal rank of Ambassador.

Her professional background includes tenure as Senior Advisor and Senior Vice President of Global Public Policy, PepsiCo; founding President, the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation; a Member, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, IOM Roundtable on Obesity Solutions; a Board Member, Girl Scouts of the USA; a Member, the Governor’s Economic Development and Jobs Creation Commission; an Advisory Board Member, Base Technologies; a Trustee of Thunderbird School of Global Management; a Board Member, Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute; a Board Member, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities; a Commissioner of the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships; a U.S. Delegate to the United Nations; Vice Chairman for the U.S. Defense Department’s Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services; a Trustee for the California State Summer School of the Arts; a Partner, the Brand Group; Global Brand Identity Manager for INTEL Corporation; Deputy Associate Director, Office of Presidential Personnel, the White House; Special Assistant for Technology Transfer Policy, Office of the Secretary of Defense. Lisa Gable holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from University of Virginia and a Master’s degree from Georgetown University’s National Security Studies program.

Her awards and honors include: PR News Top Women in PR 2015; 100 Women in STEM, STEM Connect 2012. A published writer, Gable also had recurring media appearances including four years as a regularly scheduled guest with Lifetime’s national morning program The Balancing Act.

Rebecca Geller

Rebecca Geller is the owner and CEO of The Geller Law Group, a firm comprised of 20 women that Rebecca founded in 2011 with the goal of providing high-quality legal services while at the same time emphasizing a healthy work–life balance for the firm’s staff. Rebecca stands out as a leader in the legal industry, revolutionizing the law firm model to become a place where employees can successfully balance legal careers and the rest of their lives. The Geller Law Group was profiled by The New York Times in 2015 for its innovative approach to maintaining work/life balance. Forbes Magazine recognized The Geller Law Group in 2016 as one of the top companies in the U.S. for teleworking and flexible work/life schedules. The ABC television show “Shark Tank” even invited The Geller Law Group to participate in the show because the show’s producers wanted to highlight family-friendly approaches to doing business (the firm declined the invitation).

In 2015, The Washingtonian Magazine selected Rebecca as a “person we would like to have dinner with.” In 2016, she received “Mom of the Year” award from Washington Family magazine for her leadership in creating a workplace that reflects true work/life balance. Rebecca received the 2015 Enterprising Women of the Year Award from Enterprising Women Magazine and traveled to Miami to accept the award in February 2016. In 2015, Rebecca helped to write and pass the new Virginia law creating legal protections for a woman to breastfeed her child in public places. Before launching her own law firm in 2011, Rebecca worked as a corporate lawyer at a major international law firm representing Fortune 500 companies. Rebecca lives in Fairfax County and is the mom of 3 young kids.

Kindra D. Harvey

Kindra Harvey serves and inspires business owners and industry professionals daily. Encouraging and empowering those who are unafraid to take the leap into business ownership is one of her core missions in life. She believes it is through our collective experience and willingness to share that we are able to impact generations and contribute innovation to the future of our culture, community, country, and our world. Helping to create jobs for our neighbors, stepping in to help companies re-imagine their possibilities, and shining light on resources that make a difference drives her to excel. Exceeding expectations and witnessing dreams as they come true is what makes her job interesting. Kindra also, serves on HUBZone National Council where she is Chair of the Economic Development Committee.

Professionally, Kindra has spent the past 17 years working in Human Resource Development, Training and Development, Employer Services, Business Development, and Economic Development. During her tenure in Economic Development Kindra led the charge in her community to create a system of support for HUBZone companies and local job seekers. This model is now being duplicated in communities across the country.

Now as an entrepreneur, her company, Purpose WorX, guides businesses through the process of expansion, relocation, and consolidation of their business operations. They regularly monitor economic trends and the competitive landscape for various industries. The firm advises businesses on strategies and best practices to better equip them for success.

Darnyelle Jervey Harmon

Passion, Purpose and Persistence are three words that thoroughly describe Darnyelle Jervey Harmon, MBA’s journey. Darnyelle is a business growth strategist. She helps uncompromising entrepreneurs become six or seven figure CEOs in 12 months or less through her consulting firm, Incredible One Enterprises, LLC. Her company specializes in helping CEOs build a business to fund the life they crave.

Darnyelle is the creator of Incredible Factor University®:
a Business School for Uncompromising Entrepreneurs, Breakthrough In BusinessTM , a mindset shift incubator for entrepreneurs who know that they are not building a business at their full potential, ProfitHERble® an inner circle mentorship program for women business owners and her Pillars of Business Optimization® are positioning her clients to profitably impact the world.

Darnyelle boldly declares herself a Belief Barrier Breaker ® and describes her life in acts – Act One: overcoming the adversity of her childhood to successfully become the first child in her family to graduate from high school and pursue higher education. Act Two: graduating from college with honors and starting her first career where through intentional success in Corporate America she progressed from a representative to a Vice President in three short years. Act Three: leaving her lucrative corporate career to start her own Mary Kay Cosmetics consultancy where in five months time she earned the prestigious Pink Cadillac, built a personal unit of more than 500 independent beauty consultants and claimed #1 in the State honors twice as an Executive Sales Director in Mary Kay Cosmetics. Act Four: Growing her own dream business to seven figures, writing books to empower others and traveling the world speaking to inspire and educate audiences. Today, Darnyelle is a tour de force – a captivating speaker, brilliant businesswoman, a gifted strategist, a best-selling author and she has mastered the power of motivation, empowerment and transformation. She successfully imparts that knowledge to everyone with whom she comes into contact. In fact, if she touches your business, it will grow, period.

Darnyelle is the recipient of several awards, including Coach of the Year by Stiletto Woman Media, Small Business Influencer by Small Biz Trends, Woman of Color Excellence in Business by Women President’s Organization and the National Coalition of 100 Black Men Philly, and the Enterprising Woman of the Year by Enterprising Woman Magazine.

Darnyelle is the author of 7 books and 5 powerful business success systems. Her work has been featured in Success, O, Black Enterprise, Essence and Delaware Today magazines. In 2015, she appeared as a regular guest on Virginia This Morning on CBS and has been showcased on Fox Business, ABC, The Word Network and a host of other on and offline media outlets. Darnyelle has a BA from University of Delaware, An MBA from Goldey-Beacom College and an executive coaching certification from the Center of Executive Coaching. She is also a certified Kolbe A Consultant. Her mantra is “when I stand before God at the end of my life I hope not to have a single bit of talent left, saying I used everything He gave me.”

Dr. Teerawong (Kan) Kasiolarn

Dr. Teerawong Kasiolarn (Kan) received his Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine and Master of Science in Acupuncture in 2005 from Bastyr University, world-renowned for its curriculum in science-based natural medicine. After graduation, he served as a naturopathic resident at the University of Bridgeport College of Naturopathic Medicine (UBCNM) in Connecticut, Yale-Prevention Research Center (PRC), and the Integrative Medicine Center (IMC) at Griffin Hospital, a teaching facility affiliated with Yale University. For the past 13 years since his residency, Dr. Kasiolarn has been practicing at Nova Medical Group, which is now owned by Inova Health Systems, a global leader in personalized health and is the largest integrated healthcare network in Northern Virginia and the Washington, DC Metro area. Since October 2017, Dr Kasiolarn has been practicing at the Inova Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Center in Dunn Loring and Arlington, Virginia – a collaboration between Inova Health Systems and Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (SHUTCM), an internationally recognized world leader in TCM.

Dr. Kasiolarn focuses on managing and treating the following conditions: Obesity or weight management, metabolic syndrome, diabetes/pre-diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cholesterol abnormalities, chronic fatigue, chronic pain, thyroid problem, hormonal imbalance, infertility, menopausal symptoms, autoimmune diseases, allergies, arthritis, digestive issues, insomnia, and anxiety/depression. Dr. Kasiolarn is also a regular contributor for the Naturopathic Doctor News & Review (NDNR), the leading clinical information resource for Naturopathic physicians in North America. Over the years, Dr. Kasiolarn has written numerous health articles for national and local magazines & newsletters. Dr. Kasiolarn has also given several health-promoting speeches, lectures, and community acupuncture sessions to local businesses and government agencies in the Northern Virginia area.

Meg Kerns

Meg Kerns is a former teacher turned entrepreneur. She coaches business owners, creates content, and drives the digital presences for several companies in a variety of industries. Owner of MOKup Media, Meg specializes in finding and sharing the authentic voice for each of her clients. Alongside her work as a digital marketer, she is a blogger and full-time mother of three. Her message surrounds the notion that brand building is not a spectator sport; be creative, be purposeful and be consistent!

Faye Lane

FAYE LANE is a Texas-born, New York-based writer and performer whose unique blending of story and song moved New York Magazine to gush, “She had them gobbling from the palm of her hand. They were howling, crying, falling in love with her.” The critically acclaimed Faye Lane’s Beauty Shop Stories, a chronicle in story and song of her childhood in a Texas beauty salon, was the winner of the Overall Excellence Award from the New York International Fringe Festival, the Bistro Award for Best Musical Comedy and the MAC Award for Outstanding Special Production. The show has had a long residency at the legendary SoHo Playhouse in New York and has touched audiences across the country and around the world, from Dallas to DC, from Costa Rica to North Carolina, and made Joan Rivers exclaim, “That girl belongs on Broadway!”

Faye is “one of New York’s most beloved and respected storytellers” and appears frequently in storytelling shows around the country. She is a regular performer for the nation’s premier storytelling organization The Moth, performing for standing room only crowds at such storied venues as The Paramount Theater in Austin, The Fillmore in Detroit, and the 4,000 seat Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, Oregon. She has won the Moth Story Slam, which The Wall Street Journal hails as “New York’s hottest, hippest literary ticket” in both New York and Los Angeles. Her autobiographical stories can be heard on NPR’s Cityscapes and The Moth Radio Hour, and she is a featured author in the New York Times Best Seller The Moth: Fifty True Stories. Faye has performed her stories at the Edinburgh Theatre Festival, the Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival, and the Future of StoryTelling Summit. Faye has studied at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute and the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center.

Katherine Liola, CFP®

Katherine founded Concentric Private Wealth with a vision to bring a more personalized approach to the financial planning experience. With more than 16 years of experience, Katherine has seen clients in every life situation and recognizes that everything in life has a financial implication. Katherine helps her clients understand why they are making the decisions they make. By aligning investment strategy and values-based decisions centric to the client’s individual needs and goals, Katherine works with her clients to find a new sense of security and fulfillment.

Katherine’s vision and outstanding client service earned her the distinction of being honored to the inaugural InvestmentNews “Top 40 Under 40” list for 2014* and the Washington Business Journal “40 Under 40”** list in 2017. Katherine’s commitment to bringing value has also earned her recognition in 2017 and 2018 as a Five Star Wealth Manager by Five Star Professional.*** Katherine has also been quoted in several national publications, including the InvestmentNews, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Woman’s Day magazine and financial journals.

Giving back has always been important to Katherine. She was selected to be part of the distinguished Leadership of Greater Washington Signature Program. She was honored to be part of the ten-month program with corporate, government and non-profit thought leaders to positively impact the direction of the Washington DC Metropolitan region..

Katherine served as the Finance Chair for the Our Lady of Good Counsel High School Board of Directors She has also previously served as a member of the Finance Advisory Board of Directors for the National Communication Association, as the Vice Chair of the Success in the City Board of Directors, and as an Alumni Mentor through the Boston College Mentoring program. Her passion for service is something she has integrated with her firm through Concentric Cares, a quarterly service program in which her firm engages with and serves the local community by planting trees, serving food at local shelters and volunteering in schools teaching financial literacy.

Katherine and her husband, David, a sales executive in the IT cyber security space, live in Willowsford, Virginia, with their children: Harper (5), Gannon (4), and Emerson (2). Although weekends might be hectic, Katherine loves spending time with her family—whether it be at a local park, a winery, or traveling someplace new. Katherine competes in triathlons and distance running with Team FeXY and finds that training helps her keep up with her children.

Jane Lovas

A known speaker, Jane tailors her messages to her clients and audiences using personal stories that are delivered with wit and humor. She has facilitated numerous workshops and seminars on business development. Jane has her Ph. D. in Organization Behavior and a Master’s in Information Systems. She has consulted to companies such as Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., Washington Mutual Inc., Fannie Mae, Nextel Communications and XO Communications where she has a proven track record of successfully turning around failing projects while improving morale, communication, and team cohesiveness. As an adjunct instructor at Leeward Community College and Hawaii Pacific University (HPU) Jane taught Introduction to Computers.

Jane is the author of Put Your Big Girl Panties On and Kick Your Fears in the Ass and Co-Author of Seen and Sustained: Best Practices in Communication that Increase the Visibility of Small and Diverse Businesses with Akia Garnett, Mali Phonpadith and Tamecia Bradshaw.

She is highly skilled at conducting rapid assessments of both personal and organizational needs and priorities, seeing the big picture, zeroing in on potential problem areas, and recommending and implementing workable solutions for both individuals and corporations.

Jane speaks to Organizations and Leadership groups on topics that include Discerning Leadership, Purpose and Passion, and Engaged Leaders foster Empowered Employees.

Jane’s work helps leaders answer the question: “How can we create a successful business, one in which our employees, customers and the community also benefit?”

Jane has never been one to refuse a challenge. So when challenged by her daughters Jane, an avid skier, learned to snowboard a couple of years ago. Her first comment at the end of the run down the beginners slope was “I’ve never felt so out of control in my life!” Her second one…. “Let’s do that again!”

Jane Maliszewski

Jane Maliszewski is the coach for busy executive women and business professionals who want to be more effective in how they live and lead.

She is a Certified Neuro-Transformation Coach and licensed trainer and applies a variety of techniques to demonstrate how the brain, body, and mind impacts our effectiveness to help her clients learn new ways to manage their brain, so they can be more successful.

Jane is the Chief Energy Officer of VAULT Associates Leadership Coaching and Consulting, providing Executive and Leadership Coaching and Team Development consulting for the individual, team, and organization. Her coaching, speaking, and workshop programs are learning-packed, engaging, and fun.

She is an International Coach Federation ACC-credentialed Coach and has master’s degrees in Business Administration and National Strategy. Jane is a U.S. Army veteran (Colonel, retired).

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s Courage” (Anais Nin) has been a watchword for her life: The thrill and responsibility of being an Army paratrooper; The challenge and complexity of serving as Chief Information Officer of an organization of over 50,000 people; Developing the mental and physical resilience to run three marathons, summit Mount Kilimanjaro, and explore amazing places in our world.

In addition to her passion for empowering and supporting her clients, Jane immerses herself in cooking and food adventures, global travel, and exploring the road less taken (preferably with sturdy boots, hiking poles, and a pack).

Katie Nelson

Katie Nelson, founder of Sales UpRising, is an expert in helping solopreneurs break through six figures fast. A speaker, teacher, consultant and entrepreneurial coach, she is passionate about helping entrepreneurs share their passion and expertise with the world. She helps entrepreneurs break out of their shell and accept selling as the answer to all of their woes to help them reach the financial freedom that comes with consist revenue!

Clients hire her because of her business successes, infectious energy, and her ability to keep them inspired to plough through the rough days and keep their eyes on the prize of growth!

She grew up in a house where both parents were entrepreneurs. Knowing how difficult owning a small business is, it was never something she aspired to achieve. Entrepreneurship snuck up on her slowly…as a partner in a staffing business. Two businesses, in fact! After the second successful startup, generating over $5M in the first 3 years, she decided to break out on her own, in a different space! Remembering the difficulties of the startup world and witnessing first hand that selling was not every entrepreneurs cup of tea, she founded Sales UpRising to take the guess work of how to build a thriving business and come to love sales (and if not selling, at least the revenue it generates!)

Katie is grateful every day for the clients she has, doing work that she loves and having time for the family that supports her. As an active member of her local Chamber of Commerce and the Women’s Business Community in Northern Virginia she gives to various organizations to show her gratitude for a life that is actively well-lived.

Sophia A. Nelson

Sophia A. Nelson, Esq., is an award-winning author and national journalist. She has penned three transformational nonfiction books in five years, and she ahs appeared on every major news netowrk and media outlet in the world. Her groundbreaking articles and books have earend her a Pulitzer nomination in Letters, a best journalism award in reporting, and a best nonfiction award in 2011. Nelson is an attorney by trade, and a noted TV personality, motivational speaker, and corporate trainer to the Fortune 500.

Tareaz Pegues

Considered a “brilliant storyteller” by clients and colleagues alike, Tareaz Pegues is a dynamic speaker who guides audience members on a journey of self-discovery. Leveraging sales, marketing and leadership experience gained while working in frontline, performance-driven roles at UBS Financial Services, SC Johnson and Miami Herald, Tareaz infuses her highly interactive presentations with inspirational messages, relevant anecdotes and proven strategies for success. Tareaz calls participants to action, empowering them with the tools needed to change the behaviors, attitudes and perceptions that prevent growth.

Cyndy Porter

Cyndy Porter is an personal branding, image and style expert. Her company Success thru Style with Cyndy Porter has one mission: to transform women’s lives by providing them with the knowledge, skills, and confidence that they are presenting the best version of themselves to the world. This is achieved through hands-on workshops, one-on-one coaching/consulting, and live events and presentations.

Your image is powerful. Creating and showcasing your personal style is a building block for professional success. Cyndy’s personal branding expertise, fashion and style guidance will lead you to a better understanding of your strengths and best features. Cyndy brings fashion and function together, a vital combination for every woman everywhere. With Cyndy Porter’s expertise, there are no flaws, only a flawless personal brand that is reflected from head to toe while radiating from within.

Cyndy began her career in sales and marketing and became a divisional vice president at a media conglomerate. Today, Success thru Style builds on that business knowledge and experience, providing personal branding, image and style services locally in Metro D.C., Maryland and Northern VA, as well as globally.

You are art in motion. Success thru Style provides a variety of programs to teach individuals, groups, companies and large audiences how to create a personal brand and apply art principles to how they dress–the same principles used to create beautiful portraiture or art of any kind. Success thru Style teaches how to see oneself in artful terms and how to express oneself through image, style, and photography.

Professional success is a combination of hard work, dedication and confidence in yourself. Your personal brand should reflect this, as well as your unique style. With Cyndy and her understanding of business, photography, and branding, you are given the tools to achieve Success thru Style.

Carrie Rich

Carrie Rich is the co-founder and CEO of The Global Good Fund, a nonprofit organization that has served 340,000 total beneficiaries globally through leadership development. She is also the co-owner of ROMAN women’s retail boutique and founder of ISANNAH, a fine jewelry social enterprise. Carrie is the co-author of a Top 5 Business Book, is a globally featured speaker, and has been recognized as an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awardee, POLITICO Women Who Rule Awardee, and Enterprising Women of the Year Awardee. Carrie serves on the adjunct faculty at George Washington University, serves on boards, and most enjoys serving her infant children.

Marybeth Rosato

Marybeth Rosato, Founder of Speak On Purpose calls herself the accidental speaker got her start in direct selling, became a top producer and then became a regional Vice President leading 16 states and eastern Canada. Marybeth is a co-author of the Amazon best seller: Succeeding Through Doubt Fear and Crisis and co-author with Joel Comm ( NY Times best selling author) : So What Do You Do, Ask The Genius Next Door. She loves helping other discover the courage to live On Purpose.

Dr. Lauren Scott

Dr. Lauren Scott is a urogynecologist board certified in female pelvic medicine, reconstructive surgery, and obstetrics and gynecology. Special clinical interests include robotic and laparoscopic approaches to pelvic organ prolapse and incontinence.

Dr. Scott became interested in urogynecology because she enjoys helping women regain freedom from incontinence and prolapse. Her goal is to help her patients learn more about their bodies and pelvic floor disorders. She hopes that together, she and her patients may choose the best treatment options to fit varying lifestyles and goals.

Dr. Scott joined Inova Medical Group with more than three years of clinical experience. She earned her medical degree at the University of Texas, completed her residency at Baylor College of Medicine, and fellowship training at University of South Florida.

Dr. Scott currently resides in the DC metro area with her husband and elderly Boston terrier. In her spare time she enjoys reading a great mystery, practicing yoga, and cooking up new recipes with her husband.

Crystel Lynn Smith

Crystel Lynn Smith is nationally known as the go to person for high-energy, business acumen, and life-changing activation.
Her passion for serving others gives those who know and work with Crystel the opportunity to achieve and live a life they could have only imagined before connecting with this bold and humble leader.

Crystel has been partnering with and coaching businesses and individuals for over twenty years. Her clients have referred to Crystel as the “Best investment to date!” They are eager to, and actively share their unprecedented experience in partnering with Crystel. Her clients boldly proclaim, “Working with Crystel is critical to the success of our organization!”

Crystel’s innate ability to see the big picture, strategically design plans for success, influence her clients and their teams, and hold them accountable in achieving greatness make Crystel the prominent choice for forward-thinking innovative organizations.

Crystel exemplifies living an extraordinary life as a Best-Selling Author, compelling NSA speaker, Founder and Co-Founder of 3 businesses and life transforming organizations.

“Every person must be given the opportunity to live an extraordinary life. It’s my obligation, my calling, to merely serve as the vessel.”

Dr. Sherri M. Yoder

Sherri Michelle Yoder is a world-class leader who devotes her time to learning about the needs of people. She harvests her knowledge from thousands of development experiences with others, and from expertise gained through her experience as a psychology doctoral graduate.

Dr. Sherri is insightful and able to reveal the God-given gifts of people in a way that resonates with them and serves as the impetus for personal and professional transformation. Her clients have graciously described meeting her as “the best thing that could have ever happened!” She is a catalyst for the revelation of individual value.

Dr. Sherri’s breadth of knowledge and affinity for personal connection have been highlighted for more than two decades in the form of individual and team supervision and development in the workplace, graduate-level course instruction, individual and team coaching, and inspirational speaking experiences.

Most recently, Dr. Sherri co-authored the best-selling new release on Amazon, “It’s All About Me!,” which effectively translates the needs of people in the workplace to the decision-makers who can transform their working lives into days filled with purpose and passion.

“Be the unique you YOU were created to be. The world needs you.” -Dr. Sherri

Seema Wadhwa

Ms. Seema Wadhwa is the Assistant Vice President of Sustainability and Wellness for Inova Health System. She embraces health and wellness as core drivers for sustainability. Mrs. Wadhwa uses these values to oversee strategic planning and management of sustainability and wellness. Her efforts have demonstrated multi-million dollar savings and measurable impacts.

Ms. Wadhwa influenced the national conversation on sustainability in healthcare while leading the Healthier Hospitals Initiative from launch to over 1300 hospitals enrolled across the nation.
Mrs. Wadhwa began her career as a Civil Engineering working to build communities and now works to build healthier communities. Ms. Wadhwa is a graduate from the University of Alberta, Canada, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering.

Mrs. Wadhwa has a passion for sharing knowledge and co-authored the first book for leadership in the field of healthcare sustainability. Her publications also include material in variety of books on topics ranging from teaching sustainability to sustainability in managerial ethics. Ms. Wadhwa has been quoted in national publications including Modern Healthcare, Becker’s Review and Healthcare Finance. Ms. Wadhwa is an accomplished public speaker and has been included on panels and roundtables at The White House and other national venues.

She is most fulfilled when serving in the local and global community. Seema co-founded the Lullaby Project which has provided over 1000 free blankets to babies in the US and around the world and continues on its mission. She also enjoys serving on the board of the USGBC-National Capital Region. You can connect with Seema on Twitter at: @hcgogreen.

Most recently, under the leadership of Seema, the Sustainability and Wellness team applied on behalf of Inova Health System to be one of the Top 100 Healthiest Hospitals in America. Out of 1000 applicants nationwide, Inova was selected as #27. This was definitely a team effort with committed participation by employees and excellent program management and data analytics keeping track of our efforts by Inova Well.

Dr. Eileen West, MD, FACP

Dr. Eileen West is a board certified internist practicing at the Inova Primary Care – Ballston office. She has 15 years of clinical experience and special interests in women’s health, cardiovascular disease prevention in women, osteoporosis, menopause management, and international medicine. She also enjoys resident education and is a certified clinical densitometrist.

Dr. West chose to practice internal medicine because she loves solving her patients’ medical problems. Her goal is to establish long-term relationships to help keep them healthy and see them through illness when it occurs. She often helps patients to manage chronic health conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, sinus problems, and asthma.

Dr. West is a fellow of the American College of Physicians. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Yale University, medical degree from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine in 1998 and completed both her residency in internal medicine and a preceptorship in gynecology at Tulane University Medical Center in New Orleans. Before joining Inova Medical Group, Dr. West served as an associate professor of medicine and the director of internal medicine for women’s health at University of Oklahoma. While in Oklahoma, she was repeatedly voted one of the “Most Compassionate Physicians” and U.S. News and World Report “Regional Top Doctor.” Dr. West has also been named a Castle Connelly “Top Doctor” for the past decade and is a 2018 Washingtonian “Top Doctor.”

Dr. West currently resides in Falls Church, VA with her husband and three daughters. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family, exercising, and singing.

Krista Woods

Krista Woods was born and raised in Northern Virginia. Her and her husband of 20 years, Chris Woods, have 3 kids, ages 24, 18 and 16. Krista has been in the Sales, Training & Management Industry for 25 years. The first 12 years of her career were spent in the service and retail side of the automotive industry while raising three kids, working nights and weekends, she was promoted from sales to management quickly. Although being a female in a male dominated field wasn’t always easy, she found repeated success in her gift of being able to effectively communicate with her coworkers. That gift also spilled over to her customers and she was easily able to build trust and relationships.

Over the years Krista developed a passion for learning about people; what motivates, inspires, and makes them tick. That’s what led Krista to become self employed and for the last 12 years she has been running her own sales training and team building consulting firm.

In 2014, Krista wanted to grow as a leader and positive role model so she invested in herself by taking a course to become a Certified Color Code Instructor. Since then, she has been honored to teach her workshop to hundreds of top officials at the FAA as well as Real Estate Teams, Automotive Teams and many Women’s Groups.

Recently, Krista Woods added award-winning inventor to her resume. Krista invented GloveStix, an odor management solution for stinky athletic gear and shoes. With absolutely no experience in manufacturing, just pure drive to solve a problem, in a year she took a product from idea, to development, to production and distribution. In 2016, her first full year of business, she won a contest on NBC’S TODAY Show called The Next Big Thing. Woods was selected by a panel of judges as the overall winner, enabling her to appear on QVC’s “Saturday Morning Q®” broadcast to sell her product live on-air. She sold out…in 8 minutes!

Krista was also honored in 2016 with Woman’s Net naming her “Best Woman Small Business of the year” and The Washington Business Journal named her part of the “Power 100”… A list comprised of Washington’s top newsmakers and influencers. In 2017, Krista won the Sam’s Club and Score American Small Business Championship naming her one of the top small businesses in America as well as The Woman’s Center of Virginia and Loudoun County’s Entrepreneur of the Year award. In November of 2017, her episode of Shark Tank aired Nationally, and she successfully negotiated a deal with not one, but two celebrity Sharks.

Krista insists that her greatest accomplishments are a result of her ability to forge relationships with all types of personalities. She is adamant, you get out of your business and relationships what you’re willing to invest in them but it’s the relationships you build along the way that make the difference!